Dragged To The Grave
by WhiteAsukalover
Summary: Yugi thinks Joey and Tea are dead after finding their bodies lying lifeless in an alleyway, drenched in cold blood. Now one year after his friend’s supposed demises, Yugi gets a horrifying surprise… Character Death Vampire Fic. R&R!
1. Prologue

A/N: Hey fanfic fans

_A/N: Hey fanfic fans! It's WhiteAsukalover or White for short. This is my 34__th__ fic and my 8__th__ in 2 weeks I think. Anyway this is my first attempt at an honest horror story so please be gentle with your reviews. Thanks in advance! This chapter is simply a prologue to the story's events._

_Brief Summary: Yugi thinks Joey and Tea are dead after finding their bodies lying lifeless in an alleyway, drenched in cold blood. Now one year after his friend's supposed demises, Yugi gets a horrifying surprise…_

Yugi Moto walked out of the Kame Game Shop, wondering what was keeping his friends Joey Wheeler and Tea Gardener.

Joey had said they'd be there "in a few minutes" but that had been 2 hours ago.

Naturally Yugi was worried so along with his duel disk and dueling deck, he took along a flashlight.

He walked for about 10 minutes before the small duelist came to a narrow alleyway.

It being 9 at night, the alley was almost impossible to see through.

Yugi slowly switched on his flashlight and pointed it's calming light down in front of him.

What he saw next however horrified the gentle hikari.

There, inches in front of him, was Joey's favorite card the Red-Eyes Black Dragon.

What scared Yugi to his core however was that Joey's card was soaked in blood.

"Who or what could have done such a thing to Joey's favorite card?" Yugi asked himself, already getting very scared.

But Joey's Red-Eyes Black Dragon soon became the least of the innocent champ's fears.

Several feet away beyond the bloodstained dragon card was a small handful of Joey's favorite cards, all coated in cold fresh red blood.

Among them were Insect Queen, Panther Warrior, Gearfried The Iron Knight and Jinzo.

But after seeing the blood-ridden Jinzo, Yugi gasped in horror, nearly dropping his flashlight from the sheer horror of the sight he was seeing.

There, laying several feet away from the pool of bloodstained cards, was Joey's lifeless corpse lying right alongside Tea's.

"Joey! Tea!" Yugi cried out in horror, racing to his best friends' sides.

He checked Joey for a pulse, then Tea before the inevitable truth struck the small duelist.

Joey and Tea, his closest friends in the world next to his Other Half, Yami Yugi were dead.

Yugi's eyes filled with tears and he began to cry.

They couldn't be dead.

They just couldn't be.

But then again, how could they not be?

They were lying in an alleyway, drenched in cold blood.

Yugi ran out of the alley, leaving his flashlight behind, his tears dripping off his face as he ran back home to inform Yami of the horrid news, the tears that had dripped off his face left a short puddle in it's wake beside the corpses of his best friends.

Yugi quickly opened the front door of the Game Shop and ran straight up to his room, crying very hard.

Yami Yugi who had been on Yugi's bed, quietly reading a copy of "Duelist Magazine" saw the distraught duelist enter, and grew concerned.

"Aibou my little hikari what on earth is wrong?" Yami asked soothingly, seeing Yugi's almost non-stop tears.

"Oh Yami, what I saw…it's horrible!" Yugi wailed, throwing himself into Yami's arms.

"Yugi-kun, please calm down. Stop crying. Tell me what's made you so sad, young one…" Yami said gently, his big brother-like tone still showing.

"Joey and Tea are…" Yugi started, his voice even more high-pitched than usual because he was crying.

"They are what, aibou?" Yami asked gently.

He hated to see Yugi so sad. He had thought of himself as Yugi's self-appointed guardian and big brother so to see Yugi so emotionally distraught brought a great pain to the ancient Pharaoh's heart.

"Their d-dead Yami." Yugi sniffled, as he cried in Yami's arms, trying to let go of all the pain he felt from seeing his friends' dead bloodstained bodies.

"What?! Are you sure your feeling ok, aibou?" Yami asked, being highly skeptical that both Joey and Tea could just suddenly die out of the blue like his aibou claimed.

Yugi looked up at his darker half, his eyes red from crying.

"Oh sure I'm ok. I just saw my 2 best friends covered in cold blood, dead in an alleyway but yes I'm ok… **DO I LOOK OKAY TO YOU?!** " Yugi screamed at the top of his lungs almost.

"Aibou, aibou easy. What exactly did you see? Tell me everything you saw." Yami told his trembling hikari, still trying to be gentle with him.

Yugi took a deep breath and stopped crying for the moment before he spoke.

"Well I saw Red-Eyes Black Dragon, Insect Queen, Panther Warrior, Gearfried The Iron Knight and Jinzo all covered in blood. Then just ahead of those cards, I saw Joey and Tea's lifeless body all drenched in blood." Yugi whispered, trying not to cry even more.

"Oh dear Ra…" Yami muttered.

"It's true, Yami! Their gone!" Yugi cried.

Yami just hugged Yugi tightly, trying to quell the small boy's pain in any way he could.

To be continued…


	2. Light Play And A Severance

A/N: Here's the first real chapter of "Dragged To The Grave"

_A/N: Here's the first real chapter of "Dragged To The Grave". I have not yet decided when to have the events of the prologue chapter tie in to the rest of the story. If you have ideas for when I should, please tell me. Anyway enjoy the chapter guys! Also this chapter takes several days __**BEFORE**__ the events of the prologue. There is also some prodigyshipping (Kaiba X Rebecca) and kiddyshipping (Rebecca X Mokuba) in the order I just wrote. In other words, prodigy first then kiddyshipping._

Yugi Moto pouted playfully up at his best friend, Joey Wheeler.

Yugi was 15 years old, a year younger than Joey but was easily at least a half-foot shorter than his best friend. What was strange about Yugi was that his hair was 3 separate colors – violet, blonde and black along with what he wore around his neck.

That was what looked like an upside-down pyramid, known as the Millennium Puzzle.

To compliment his bizarre hairstyle, Yugi had soft, innocent amethyst eyes.

Joey meanwhile had dark blonde hair to go along with his brown eyes.

He grinned playfully, seeing his best friend pout at him in such an innocent way.

"This is no time to play keep-away with my duel disk, Joey!" Yugi whined playfully.

Joey chuckled softly as he held Yugi's duel disk over his head, just out of Yugi's reach.

"If ya want it, ya gotta work for it, Yuge." Joey teased, still grinning.

Yugi sighed in mock annoyance as he jumped for his disk, but missed it by inches.

Joey smirked and turned to their friend Tristan Taylor.

Tristan was about Joey's height with what looked like a thick mullet of brown hair.

"Hey Tristan, dink fast!" Joey shouted, tossing Yugi's duel disk.

Tristan caught it, grinning.

"Hey, no fair!" Yugi whined.

The azure-eyed brunette Tea Gardner chuckled at her friends, shaking her head lightly.

It was about 3:30 in the afternoon and they had been playing together since noon.

Tristan tried to lob the disk back to Joey, but Yugi jumped and caught it in mid-air.

"Aw man!" Joey groaned, realizing their game of keep-away was over.

"Oh no…" Tea muttered.

"What's wrong, Tea?" Yugi asked, wondering what had suddenly bothered the azure-eyed dancer.

Tea gestured to the approaching blonde genius, Rebecca Hawkins who surprisingly was accompanied by both of the Kaiba brothers, Seto and Mokuba Kaiba.

Joey grinned widely, seeing Kaiba. "Looks like Rich-boy over dere has a girlfriend, huh Yuge?" Joey asked his best friend.

"Yeah but don't look now Joey, but I think Seto and her are about to have a fight." Yugi answered.

Joey's grin immediately faded, seeing he soon would no longer have a target to tease.

Seto crossed his arms, his icy blue eyes narrowing.

"Forget it Hawkins, you may be my girlfriend but you cannot, will not get any shares of Kaiba Corp!" Seto growled.

He was highly protective of his company and refused to let anyone but his baby brother even attempt to run the multi-million dollar corporation he had seized control of from his cruel stepfather Gozaburo Kaiba.

Rebecca pouted, giving the teen CEO a really cute look, hoping that would get to the teen's tough exterior.

But Seto wasn't moved by the blonde genius' attempt at trying to swoon him into doing what she wanted.

Rebecca frowned and stomped her foot angrily.

Although she was 12 and 'supposedly' a college student from what she told Yugi and his group, all but Joey were believing of her status.

Joey was rather skeptical of her claim as to be a college student she would have to have been enrolled in a college or university and the blonde didn't know of any such establishments in the city of Domino.

But he had gone along with it just to quell the girl's irritancy.

"That's it! If you can't even let me run Kaiba Corp with you, we're through Seto Kaiba! You're just a cold-hearted jerk!" Rebecca shouted.

Although it was almost her 13th birthday, what was unique about her personality was that when she didn't get her way, she would throw a temper tantrum like a spoiled brat would in the same situation.

Seto gave her a cold gaze as a smirk crept on to his lips. "Good riddance. I work on my own anyway." He replied.

Rebecca screamed and started shouting volleys of curse words at the teen CEO, but he didn't move as he wasn't bothered by them.

Joey however was loving every second of Rebecca's tantrum.

When she had begun cursing him, Joey was doubled over in the soft grass, laughing hard.

Rebecca finally finished her rant and stomped off, but unknown to her Mokuba followed, something that Kaiba would normally object to but strangely this time did not.

Yugi and company watched as Mokuba followed the furious genius, noting Kaiba's lack of protest.

Why he hadn't chased after his brother stunned them to their core for normally he would do so but he didn't for some reason this time, and Yugi promised himself he'd try to find out why for his own secret reasons.

To be continued…


	3. True Genuine Love

A/N: As I've stated in other chapters, I apologize for the wait but I've been busy with a lot of new stories so I haven't had t

_A/N: As I've stated in other chapters, I apologize for the wait but I've been busy with a lot of new stories so I haven't had time to update this, but now I do. Enjoy the chapter which has the MokieXBec as promised!_

_Last Time_

_Yugi and company watched as Mokuba followed the furious genius, noting Kaiba's lack of protest._

_Why he hadn't chased after his brother stunned them to their core for normally he would do so but he didn't for some reason this time, and Yugi promised himself he'd try to find out why for his own secret reasons._

_End Flashback_

"Who does he think he is? Treating a young lady like that?!" Rebecca muttered as she walked off, growling to herself.

"Rebecca, wait!" Mokuba called.

She stopped and whirled around, her gaze softening when it was the younger Kaiba brother.

"Yes Mokuba, what's up?" She asked sweetly.

Mokuba ran up to her, breathing hard as he was out of breath from running so hard.

Rebecca held back a giggle at this as Mokuba started to speak up once more.

"I'm sorry about Nii-sama. He's really protective of Kaiba Corp." Mokuba told her.

"I wish I knew that 10 minutes ago…" Rebecca sighed bitterly.

Mokuba gently put his arm around the blonde genius girl, causing her to blush a bit.

"Go give it another shot. I bet you can do it. I believe in you!" Mokuba encouraged her.

Rebecca chuckled softly as she shook her head, making Mokuba tilt his upwards in curiosity.

"I appreciate your confidence in me but I'm not going to. I realized Seto and I just aren't compatible." She told him.

"Oh…" Mokuba replied, lowering his head in a sort of disappointed manner for his big brother as his black bangs covered his eyes.

After a few minutes of silence, with his head still down, Mokuba seemed to regain his power of speech and spoke up once more.

"Well then…who are you compatible with?" He asked innocently.

Rebecca smiled and put her finger to her chin, pretending to play dumb, but Mokuba didn't notice.

"I think I'm all right with you." She answered with a giggle.

Mokuba blushed the shade of blood red.

"M-M-Me?!" Mokuba squeaked out, though deep down he was really happy she said this.

Rebecca giggled and nodded.

"But why would you pick me?" Mokuba asked, still with the innocent tone.

"Well let's see. Your cute, sweet, charming, smart and nothing like your brother." She replied, holding up one finger for each of her reasons as she smiled.

"I'm glad to hear you say that. Because for the longest time…I…I've liked you too, Rebecca." He answered shyly as his blush seemed to deepen.

Rebecca gasped, trying to hide her joy of his statement.

"Is that true, Mokuba?" She asked, her voice now sounding like a high-pitched squeak.

He smiled shyly and nodded.

Rebecca squealed softly and threw her arms around the younger Kaiba in pure joy.

Mokuba chuckled softly as he allowed the embrace before she spoke up once more.

"So Mokuba that being said, would you…be my boyfriend?" She asked, a little nervousness in her voice though she was pretty confident he'd accept her offer.

Mokuba gave a wide grin and nodded.

"Yes Rebecca I will be your boyfriend." He answered happily.

Rebecca giggled joyfully and kissed his cheek.

Mokuba blushed as he slowly but carefully returned the gesture.

She smiled, feeling true genuine love at long last.

To be continued…


	4. I Don't Know Who I Am Anymore

A/N: Here's Chapter 4 (really 3) of Dragged To The Grave

_A/N: Here's Chapter 4 (really 3) of Dragged To The Grave. It took me practically forever to think of an idea but I finally got one. Enjoy this long-awaited chapter!_

_Last Time_

"_So Mokuba that being said, would you…be my boyfriend?" She asked, a little nervousness in her voice though she was pretty confident he'd accept her offer._

_Mokuba gave a wide grin and nodded. "Yes Rebecca I will be your boyfriend." He answered happily._

_Rebecca giggled joyfully and kissed his cheek._

_Mokuba blushed as he slowly but carefully returned the gesture._

_She smiled, feeling true genuine love at long last._

_End Flashback_

The 2 walked back to the group from where they had been, holding each other's hands.

Joey saw this and his eyes widened. "No way I don't believe dis… check dis out Yuge." Joey said to his best friend, pointing to Mokuba and Rebecca's hands together.

Yugi just calmly nodded, but deep down was cheering to himself, realizing he was free from Rebecca's obsessive love.

Seto remained mostly silent, only giving his little brother a curt but affectionate smile and a silent wish of 'good luck'.

Seto's virtual absence of a protest to Mokuba's actions intrigued Yugi further so he approached Kaiba before he spoke up. "Seto?" Yugi asked.

Yami watched with curious eyes, wondering what it was Yugi hoped to accomplish with his questioning but made no movement or intent to actually speak up about things at this point with Tea and the others around.

"What?" Seto mumbled in reply to Yugi's question.

"Why didn't you chase after Mokuba when he followed after Rebecca?" Yugi asked as usually Kaiba would be rather controlling over his little brother's actions but in that brief moment, the teen CEO wasn't.

Seto sighed softly, his azure eyes locking with Yugi's amethyst ones as he answered. "Because I don't know who I am anymore." He replied quietly.

Yugi's eyes widened for a brief moment before he calmed down. "What do you mean, Seto-kun?" He asked gently.

Seto looked at his rival, almost touched that he cared about him so much but his reply was a simple shrug of the shoulders as he began to walk away, leaving the others, including his brother, in his midst. He did this because he was hoping somehow if he just took a walk to clear his head he could answer the nagging questions that persisted in the back of his mind, almost with no end whatsoever in sight it seemed.

To be continued…


	5. Not Being Like Himself

_A/N: Yeah, I know it's been forever since I've updated this story but there were several driving factors of why there was such a huge update layoff: 1. My lack of ideas. 2. The other stories I was too focused with updating and finally reason 3 was my lack of time. But that wait is finally over! Enjoy!_

_Last Time_

"_Why didn't you chase after Mokuba when he followed after Rebecca?" Yugi asked as usually Kaiba would be rather controlling over his little brother's actions but in that brief moment, the teen CEO wasn't._

_Seto sighed softly, his azure eyes locking with Yugi's amethyst ones as he answered. "Because I don't know who I am anymore." He replied quietly._

_Yugi's eyes widened for a brief moment before he calmed down. "What do you mean, Seto-kun?" He asked gently._

_Seto looked at his rival, almost touched that he cared about him so much but his reply was a simple shrug of the shoulders as he began to walk away, leaving the others, including his brother, in his midst. He did this because he was hoping somehow if he just took a walk to clear his head he could answer the nagging questions that persisted in the back of his mind, almost with no end whatsoever in sight it seemed._

_End Flashback_

Yami appeared in spirit form beside Yugi. "That was…rather strange." The spirit mused.

Yugi turned and stared up at Yami quizzically. "What do you mean, Yami?" The innocent amethyst-eyed teen asked.

Yami smiled at the smaller child. "I mean about Kaiba…" Yami began.

Yugi looked up at the ancient spirit with adoration. "What about Seto-kun?" He asked sweetly.

Yami sighed lightly. "It just seemed like he was different somehow, like if something was bothering him but it was unable to be detected." Yami explained.

Yugi laughed softly. "No way. Seto never lets anything bother him. It's probably nothing." He replied sweetly.

Yami thought for a moment before smiling and laughing himself. "You do have a good point, young one. It's probably nothing at all." He answered.

Tea and Joey smiled at the 2.

Meanwhile Seto aimlessly walked through the city, his head seemingly throbbing with questions about himself and his past.

'_Who am I? What is my true reason for being?' _One part of Seto's mind asked him.

'_I'm Seto Kaiba, and my reason is to be here for my little brother…' _The other part of Seto's mind replied.

'_But if that's true, why don't you try harder to not be like your step-father?' _The other challenged.

Seto outwardly sighed as he continued walking…

'_I don't know why, I don't know. I don't even know what to do with my life anymore.' _Seto's other half replied.

Still the questions kept coming…but did Seto even have an answer for them? Not even he knew the answer to that…

To be continued…


	6. The Final Night

_A/N: I know its been forever, but anyway big kudos go to my friend, 15animefreak15 (whom I just became friends with again after like…an 8 month feud, thank God its over) cuz without her this chapter wouldn't exist! You rule! And also yes this is the chapter where Joey and Tea die so what was in the prologue will be here. Fangirls/fanboys of them, please don't kill me! I got a long life to live! XD ok done ranting. Enjoy the chapter! Italics are thoughts or flashback. 15animefreak15 and I own Cero and Helio._

_Last Time_

_Meanwhile Seto aimlessly walked through the city, his head seemingly throbbing with questions about himself and his past._

'_Who am I? What is my true reason for being?' __One part of Seto's mind asked him._

'_I'm Seto Kaiba, and my reason is to be here for my little brother…' __The other part of Seto's mind replied._

'_But if that's true, why don't you try harder to not be like your step-father?' __The other challenged._

_Seto outwardly sighed as he continued walking…_

'_I don't know why, I don't know. I don't even know what to do with my life anymore.' __Seto's other half replied._

_Still the questions kept coming…but did Seto even have an answer for them? Not even he knew the answer to that…_

_End Flashback_

Kaiba continued walking down the sidewalk by himself. _'What is my purpose...?' _He thought.

A pair of blood red eyes followed him, pearl white fangs shimmering as the figure grinned.

Crouched upon a low rooftop, the remainder of its features was hidden by a thick black cloak. Another stood beside it, with the same glowing red eyes and dark covering. "Can't I just have a little snack before nightfall?" the first begged, practically whimpering.

The second sighed, seemingly in aggravation.

"No. You know we have to wait until the sun sets. It's forbidden to risk feeding while the sun is still visible."

Seto sighed. _'Oh well, guess I'll go back and rejoin my brother and company.'_ Seto thought, running back the way he came.

The crouching figure frowned, hiding his fangs as he stood. "So much for feeding off of him...and he looked like he'd have tasty blood, too..." The other smirked from beneath the shadows of his hood. "Patience, my friend. Tonight, we all feast."

Seto soon rejoined the gang. "Hey...everyone." He panted, out of breath.

"Seto? Are you okay?" Mokuba asked, half-worried and half-surprised.

"Yeah, I'm fine," He panted in between breaths as he continued. "Just took a walk and did some soul-searching."

"Soul-searching??" Tristan asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It means I was questioning myself, Taylor."

"You could use my first name, you know." Tristan said, a little annoyed.

"Gee I didn't know." Seto teased with an amused chuckle.

Joey chuckled. "Same 'ol Rich-Boy..." He mused.

Tea sighed and shook her head. "We should probably head home, guys. The sun's setting and it's gonna get dark soon."

"Yeah, good idea." Yugi replied.

Mokuba walked over to his older brother. "See you guys later," he called.

"See you later," Tristan and Tea called back. Tea also smiled and gave a wave to the boys.

"So where to now, Yuge?" Joey asked as he waved goodbye to the Kaiba brothers. What he didn't know was it would be his final one...

"I guess we could head back to my place. What do you think, guys?" Yugi asked.

"Sounds like a good idea to me," Tristan answered. Tea nodded in agreement.

"All right den let's go!" Joey crowed excitedly and the group of 4 headed off in the direction of the Game Shop…

-About 2 hours later-

"Well I'm going home, guys. See ya later." Tristan said, with a smile.

Tea smiled back. "Bye, Tristan. See you tomorrow."

Little did they know they would never see their friend again...

"Later guys." Tristan replied.

"So, guys, what do you want to do now?" Tea asked Yugi and Joey.

Joey thought for a moment then grinned. "Hey Yuge, wanna duel?"

Yugi smiled happily. "Sure Joey, I'd love to!"

Tea grinned. "I'll watch. I like to see you two duel..."

"Aw man, I just remembaed! I left my deck and duel disk at home!" Joey cried.

"Well, you could always go get them if you want to duel that badly..." Tea suggested.

"Yeah, you mind comin' wit me, Tea?" Joey asked.

Tea blinked, but then sighed. "Sure. You'd probably get lost if you went on your own," she teased with a smirk.

"'Ey! I dink I know da way to ma own house!" Joey shouted indignantly while Yugi laughed quietly.

"I know, I know. I was just teasing, Joey," Tea replied as she stood.

"Right. We'll be back in a few minutes, Yuge, so ya betta get ready ta duel!" Joey shouted confidently.

Tea sighed. "Come on, Joey. Before it gets any later."

"Right." Joey replied, before dashing out the door and down the street to his house.

Tea shook her head and followed after him, wondering why they were running.

"Come on Tea! Pick up da pace!" Joey called, laughing.

A vein popped out on her forehead. "Why are we running in the first place?!" She yelled.

"Cuz I wanna get back dere as quickly as possible!"

"All right, fine! But if I trip over something I'm dragging you down with me!"

"Don't worry I won't!" He called as he got to his door.

She sighed. "You're lucky you live close to Yugi..."

Joey quickly unlocked his door and raced in.

Tea followed, closing the door behind her. On the rooftop across the street, the two cloaked figures from before stood. Except now their cloaks were gone, revealing deathly pale skin. "Perfect! One for you and one for me," said the first. He had black hair that hung down around his face in spikes. He wore black boots, black leather pants, a black belt, a black shirt, and a black dog collar much like the one Yugi often wore.

His companion in contrast had bright red hair that was cut short, except for in the front where it hung down to cover his right eye. He wore black boots, black jeans, and a maroon sweater with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. "Yes...we'll attack when they're crossing through the alley again."

Quickly, Joey grabbed his duel disk, and placed his deck inside. "C'mon let's go!"

Tea rolled her eyes. "Do we have to run?"

"Yep!" Joey laughed.

Tea sighed. "Fine. Let's go."

And so Joey took off running again...

Tea followed, and the two figures on the rooftop watched. "I claim the girl," the redhead stated simply. The other pouted. "Aw! You ALWAYS get the girl!" he whined. The redhead sent him a look, and he sighed. "Fine. The blonde looks like an interesting target, anyway. I like it when they try to put up a fight..."

"Almost dere..." Joey murmured as he neared the shop.

But they unfortunately would never make it…

As they were passing through the alley, the black-haired vampire suddenly dropped down. He landed right in the middle of the exit, a few feet in front of Joey. "And just where do you think you're going?"

"'Ey pal. Move it or lose it. I got somewhere I gotta be. Got dat?"

"Oh, I got that all right. Doesn't mean you're going to be getting there anytime soon..." the man replied wickedly.

Tea shivered. "Joey, let's just go back and cut around. I have a bad feeling about this guy..."she whispered.

"Yeah good point." Joey agreed, turning around and heading for the alley exit.

But then the second figure dropped down, blocking that exit as well. His arms were crossed firmly over his chest. "I don't think so," he stated simply. Tea definitely didn't like where this seemed to be going; they were trapped.

"What da?! What's goin' on?!" Joey cried in indignation.

The black-haired man placed his hands on Joey's shoulders, moving his mouth close to the blonde's ear. "Not much...just your average feeding..."he whispered, smirking.

Tea gasped at how quickly the man had closed the distance between them, and stepped back. Unfortunately, her back bumped against the redhead's chest, and she looked up fearfully. "Y-You're eyes...they're..." Tea whimpered.

"Red. I know." He answered coolly.

"Red eyes? Why does dat sound familiar...?" Joey mused aloud.

Tea yelped as the redhead's arms wrapped around her. "Your dragon, Joey! Do something!" she yelled.

The black-haired man laughed. "Dragon? What dragon?"

"Right!" Joey activated his duel disk and quickly drew 6 cards. _'C'mon Red-Eyes be dere!'_ He thought then his eyes lit up as he saw it_. 'Awesome!'_ "I summon da Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"

Said dragon appeared, barely having enough room to stand in the narrow, crowded alley. It roared, but the black-haired man merely smirked. "A hologram? You can't be serious...even if it was real, killing this would be nothing," he stated. Waving a hand through it, Red-Eyes fizzled like any normal hologram would.

"You won't win. 'Ey Red-Eyes! Inferno Fire Blast!"

The dragon followed through with the command, sending a fiery blast at the black-haired man. He stood there and took it, coming out unscathed after the flames dispersed. "Like I said, just a hologram. Pathetic. And look what you did! Now Helio's started without me!" The man whined, pouting.

The redhead's lips were locked against the artery in Tea's neck, sharp fangs having punctured through the skin. Though he drank up most of the blood, some dripped down her neck to soak into the collar of her shirt. Tea herself looked mesmerized, as if in a daze as her lifeblood was stolen.

"Why didn't it work? Maybe another monsta? Don't worry Tea I can do dis! I summon Insect Queen, Panther Warrior, Gearfried The Iron Knight and Jinzo!"

The monsters surrounded the black-haired man, and he looked at them dully. "Must we do this? I'm hungry!" The monsters all charged their attacks, so the man shrugged. "Fine. Have it your way." As the monsters launched their attacks, he leapt into the air to land beside Joey. The attacks collided where he'd previously stood, creating an explosion and destroying all of the monsters Joey had summoned as if someone had activated the Mirror Force Trap Card.

The black-haired man growled, grasping Joey's shoulders and shoving him roughly against the wall. "The fun and games are over. Now be a good boy and let me have what I thirst for," he said, showing his glimmering fangs.

Joey screamed. "Now I get it! You 2 are vampires!"

The man rolled his eyes. "Wow. Whatever gave you that idea? Hold still and it'll hurt a lot less..." he said before sinking his fangs into Joey's neck.

Joey groaned, but being the stubborn fighter he was, he fired a punch to the man's face.

One of the man's hands shot up with expert reflexes and caught the fist, holding it fast. He didn't remove his lips from Joey's neck, and continued to drink in the blood that flowed out of the punctured artery.

"Get....off me....ya jerk! Whaddya....want.....wit us....anyway?!" Joey gasped out, his breathing growing labored due to the heavy blood loss.

"Isn't it obvious?" It was the redhead, Helio, who had spoken, now standing beside them. Some blood remained on his lips and chin, Tea's lifeless corpse on the ground behind him, he having already drained more than enough blood to kill her. "Blood. Human blood, to be exact."

"Yuge...I'm....sorry....man....I....tried..." Then Joey fell to the ground where he soon breathed his last breath…

The black-haired man wiped the blood from his lips. "Mmm...that guy may have been annoying, but he had good blood. How was yours?" he asked.

Helio nodded. "Good, as always. You shouldn't be so picky, Cero." The black-haired man, Cero, shrugged. "Since when did I listen to you? Let's go before anyone comes." With that, the two vampires ran off into the night, leaving their dead victims behind in the alley.

"Yugi, where do you suppose Joey and Tea are?" Yami questioned, back in the Game Shop.

Yugi blinked. "Maybe Joey's having trouble finding his deck."

"No. I believe Joey would've found it by now."

"Well...maybe I'll go and look for them..."

"Good idea. There's a flashlight by our bed, Yugi."

"All right." Yugi put on his duel disk and slid his deck into it, then grabbed the flashlight. "I'll be back, Yami," he called as he went to the door.

"All right. I'm sure their fine, little one." Yami answered. If only he knew how wrong he was...

Yugi nodded and left the house, heading down the street and using the flashlight to illuminate his path...

What he saw next however in a narrow alleyway horrified the gentle hikari.

There, inches in front of him, was Joey's favorite card the Red-Eyes Black Dragon.

What scared Yugi to his core however was that Joey's card was soaked in blood.

"Who or what could have done such a thing to Joey's favorite card?" Yugi asked himself, already getting very scared.

But Joey's Red-Eyes Black Dragon soon became the least of the innocent champ's fears.

Several feet away beyond the bloodstained dragon card was a small handful of Joey's favorite cards, all coated in cold fresh red blood.

Among them were Insect Queen, Panther Warrior, Gearfried The Iron Knight and Jinzo.

But after seeing the blood-ridden Jinzo, Yugi gasped in horror, nearly dropping his flashlight from the sheer horror of the sight he was seeing.

There, laying several feet away from the pool of bloodstained cards, was Joey's lifeless corpse lying right alongside Tea's.

"Joey! Tea!" Yugi cried out in horror, racing to his best friends' sides.

He checked Joey for a pulse, then Tea before the inevitable truth struck the small duelist.

Joey and Tea, his closest friends in the world next to his Other Half, Yami Yugi were dead.

Yugi's eyes filled with tears and he began to cry.

They couldn't be dead.

They just couldn't be.

But then again, how could they not be?

They were lying in an alleyway, drenched in cold blood.

Yugi ran out of the alley, leaving his flashlight behind, his tears dripping off his face as he ran back home to inform Yami of the horrid news, the tears that had dripped off his face left a short puddle in it's wake beside the corpses of his best friends.

Yugi quickly opened the front door of the Game Shop and ran straight up to his room, crying very hard.

Yami who had been on Yugi's bed, quietly reading a copy of "Duelist Magazine" saw the distraught duelist enter, and grew concerned.

"Aibou my little hikari what on earth is wrong?" Yami asked soothingly, seeing Yugi's almost non-stop tears.

"Oh Yami, what I saw…it's horrible!" Yugi wailed, throwing himself into Yami's arms.

"Yugi-kun, please calm down. Stop crying. Tell me what's made you so sad, young one…" Yami said gently, his big brother-like tone still showing.

"Joey and Tea are…" Yugi started, his voice even more high-pitched than usual because he was crying.

"They are what, aibou?" Yami asked gently.

He hated to see Yugi so sad. He had thought of himself as Yugi's self-appointed guardian and big brother so to see Yugi so emotionally distraught brought a great pain to the ancient Pharaoh's heart.

"Their d-dead Yami." Yugi sniffled, as he cried in Yami's arms, trying to let go of all the pain he felt from seeing his friends' dead bloodstained bodies.

"What?! Are you sure you're feeling ok, aibou?" Yami asked, being highly skeptical that both Joey and Tea could just suddenly die out of the blue like his aibou claimed.

Yugi looked up at his darker half, his eyes red from crying.

"Oh sure I'm ok. I just saw my 2 best friends covered in cold blood, dead in an alleyway but yes I'm ok… **DO I LOOK OKAY TO YOU?!** "Yugi screamed at the top of his lungs almost.

"Aibou, aibou easy. What exactly did you see? Tell me everything you saw." Yami told his trembling hikari, still trying to be gentle with him.

Yugi took a deep breath and stopped crying for the moment before he spoke.

"Well I saw Red-Eyes Black Dragon, Insect Queen, Panther Warrior, Gearfried The Iron Knight and Jinzo all covered in blood. Then just ahead of those cards, I saw Joey and Tea's lifeless body all drenched in blood." Yugi whispered, trying not to cry even more.

"Oh dear Ra…" Yami muttered.

"It's true, Yami! Their gone!" Yugi cried.

Yami just hugged Yugi tightly, trying to quell the small boy's pain in any way he could.

_That was one of the hardest things I've ever had to write… Stay tuned as more of this tragic story unfolds, tragic we're sure…_

_To be continued…_


	7. Telling The News

_Last Time_

_"Get....off me....ya jerk! Whaddya....want.....wit us....anyway?!" Joey gasped out, his breathing growing labored due to the heavy blood loss. _

_"Isn't it obvious?" It was the redhead, Helio, who had spoken, now standing beside them. Some blood remained on his lips and chin, Tea's lifeless corpse on the ground behind him, he having already drained more than enough blood to kill her. "Blood. Human blood, to be exact." _

_"Yuge...I'm....sorry....man....I....tried..." Then Joey fell to the ground where he soon breathed his last breath…_

_-Later-_

"_Aibou, aibou easy. What exactly did you see? Tell me everything you saw." Yami told his trembling hikari, still trying to be gentle with him._

_Yugi took a deep breath and stopped crying for the moment before he spoke._

"_Well I saw Red-Eyes Black Dragon, Insect Queen, Panther Warrior, Gearfried The Iron Knight and Jinzo all covered in blood. Then just ahead of those cards, I saw Joey and Tea's lifeless body all drenched in blood." Yugi whispered, trying not to cry even more._

"_Oh dear Ra…" Yami muttered._

"_It's true, Yami! Their gone!" Yugi cried._

_Yami just hugged Yugi tightly, trying to quell the small boy's pain in any way he could._

_End Flashback_

Yugi didn't sleep at all that night. Finally morning came for the traumatized teen.

"Yugi...Yugi...please wake up." Yami begged him, as he heard the boy still sobbing as he had been the entire night...

Yugi sniffled, buried under his covers. "I-I am up, Yami..."was his muffled reply. He had been all night long.

"What do you mean, little one?" Yami probed gently, not wanting to frighten his traumatized partner.

"I-I never went to sl-sleep..." Yugi whimpered from under his covers.

Yami gasped. "You...You didn't?" He asked, both shocked and stunned.

Yugi shook his head. "E-Every time I closed m-my eyes, I saw th-them..." Fresh sobs and tears came at the thought of his now deceased two best friends in the entire world.

"Tea and Joey..." Yami fought back some tears of his own.

But they soon came...

"Yugi...please. Come here." Yami told him, as a few tears came.

Yugi heard Yami's voice shake, and peeked out from under the covers to see his dark's tears. "Y-Yami..." He said, before getting out of bed and burying his face in the ancient pharaoh's chest. His arms wrapped around him in a tight hug.

"Yugi, did you get Joey's cards back?" Yami asked, a sense of hope in his voice.

"Y-Yeah...they're in my desk drawer..." Yugi answered, a little shakily at that.

"Good. This may sound weird but something tells me their not permanently gone."

"Yami, if they're alive, then I'm an Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh."

Yami could sense his light's dark humor. "I'm serious, Yugi." He replied, still looking hopeful about Joey and Tea's fates.

"Yami, how could they still be alive? They were...d-dead...it's impossible..." Yugi replied tearfully, looking more downcast than ever now.

"Do you know what attacked them?" Yami asked, hoping to learn as much about the attack as possible.

"No...they were just...c-covered in bl-blood...and so were his cards..." Yugi squeaked out quietly.

"Yugi, if this is true, their bodies should still be there. Show me them." Yami spoke in a soft, but firm and loving tone.

"O-Okay..." Yugi replied, a little nervous.

And so the 2 left the quaint little Game Shop and headed for the alley in which Joey and Tea had been killed and later found dead in. But when they got there…

"No, this is...impossible!" Yami cried. He and Yugi had just arrived at the alley in which Yugi had found his friends' blood-stained corpses. But now the bodies were nowhere to be found…

Yugi's eyes were wide, jaw dropped. "B-But, this is right where I found them last night! Look, the blood's st-still there!" he yelped fearfully. The bodies of his two best friends were gone, but the remnants of their blood remained…

"But then...where are their bodies..." Yami murmured fearfully.

A voice yawned. "Mornin, Yuge." Came Tristan's sleepy reply.

Yugi turned toward him, and suddenly felt a rush of relief. He hadn't even thought about Tristan perhaps being gone, too, but now the thought struck him. And he was glad that his friend was all right. "Tristan!" he yelled, hugging the taller teen.

Tristan nearly fell over. "Hey buddy. How was the duel last night?" He asked, knowing of Joey's desire to duel Yugi the night before.

Yugi's mood instantly plummeted again, and he buried his face into Tristan's torso as fresh tears brimmed his eyes. "Tristan...th-they...Joey and Tea are..."

"Bro, its just a game…" Tristan chuckled, not realizing the magnitude of the situation.

Yugi was incoherent, wracked by fresh sobs.

"Tristan...Yugi means they are...no longer in this world..." Yami explained gravely.

"Th-They're...d-dead...Tristan, they're gone!" Yugi screamed, the tears rushing down his face.

"Say **WHAT?!?!** That's insane!" Tristan cried in complete shock.

"It's true! And now, they're...they're b-bodies are missing!" Yugi cried, sobbing even harder now than before.

"Hey Yugi!" Came Kaiba's voice.

Yugi turned in surprise, tears still streaming down his face. "Kaiba?!" He shouted in total disbelief that it was Kaiba approaching him.

He nodded, coming towards him. "I heard what happened to Wheeler and Gardener..." The teen CEO hugged him out of sympathy. "I'm so sorry, kid..."

Yugi was surprised by the hug, but grateful for it none the less. However, he was even more surprised that Seto knew. "H-How did you know??"

"I'm a techno geek, remember?" Seto laughed teasingly.

"But...I didn't think anyone else knew..." Yugi replied.

"I couldn't identify what killed them. Sorry kid."

"Do you know where their b-bodies went??" Yugi asked shakily.

"To another realm..." Seto remarked grimly.

"Another...realm?" Yugi questioned, very puzzled.

"Yes, one devoid of mortals like you and me." Seto answered in as calm a voice as he could muster up.

"Wh-What do you mean?" Yugi asked, growing scared…

"Let's just say its a realm of non-human beings. That is all I know." Seto sighed.

"But why would they go there..." Yugi muttered, frowning. He was less than truly believing this.

"I doubt it was their choice, kid." Seto replied.

Yugi sighed forlornly, praying his friends were safe wherever they may have been taken to…

Meanwhile in another dimension eons away from that of the mortal realm...

To be continued…


	8. Awakening

_A/N: Tea and Joey's eyes are now bi-chromatic a mix of blood-red and their mortal eye colors. And the Yugi in this chapter is __**NOT**__ the one we know and love._

_Last Time_

_"Hey Yugi!" Came Kaiba's voice. _

_Yugi turned in surprise, tears still streaming down his face. "Kaiba?!" He shouted in total disbelief that it was Kaiba approaching him._

_He nodded, coming towards him. "I heard what happened to Wheeler and Gardener..." The teen CEO hugged him out of sympathy. "I'm so sorry, kid..." _

_Yugi was surprised by the hug, but grateful for it none the less. However, he was even more surprised that Seto knew. "H-How did you know??" _

_"I'm a techno geek, remember?" Seto laughed teasingly. _

_"But...I didn't think anyone else knew..." Yugi replied. _

_"I couldn't identify what killed them. Sorry kid." _

_"Do you know where their b-bodies went??" Yugi asked shakily._

_"To another realm..." Seto remarked grimly._

_"Another...realm?" Yugi questioned, very puzzled._

_"Yes, one devoid of mortals like you and me." Seto answered in as calm a voice as he could muster up._

_"Wh-What do you mean?" Yugi asked, growing scared…_

_"Let's just say its a realm of non-human beings. That is all I know." Seto sighed._

_"But why would they go there..." Yugi muttered, frowning. He was less than truly believing this._

_"I doubt it was their choice, kid." Seto replied._

_Yugi sighed forlornly, praying his friends were safe wherever they may have been taken to…_

_Meanwhile in another dimension eons away from that of the mortal realm..._

_End Flashback_

The dimension was cast into eternal night, not a single cloud or star in the sky. Only the bright, silvery light of the full moon lit the desolate landscape. It mostly consisted of forest, with small clearings and streams scattered throughout. And then, a few rare castles stood tall amongst the trees. They were built of stone and wood, and were obviously very old.

Slowly a pair of brown eyes opened. "Man...what hit me...?"

"Whatever hit me...?" The voice was beside him, and was followed by an audible groan.

"No way! Tea...is dat you?!" A familiar Brooklyn-accented voice cried out.

"Yes! Stop yelling...I have a massive headache, Joey." Tea moaned.

"Where in Red-Eyes are we...?" Joey asked, confused.

"I don't know. But a better question is, what are we laying in??"

"I don't know Tea." He reached for where his Duel Disk previously was, but it was no longer on his arm. "'Ey! My deck's gone!" Joey cried.

"Joey, I think we have more important things to worry about, like..." Tea began as she sat up, then tensed. "Like why we're laying in COFFINS!!!"

"Say WHAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTT?!?!?!?!" Joey screamed, outraged.

"See for yourself!" Tea replied, quickly jumping out of her coffin.

Joey sat up and yelped seeing it, he quickly jumped out. "'Ey, where's Yuge?"

"I don't know...but something tells us we're not in Domino anymore, Joey..." Tea said, looking out of a window in the stone room.

Joey looked down at himself and yelped. "Uh Tea, is it me, or am I as white as a sheet?"

Tea turned around and gasped. "You are! You look like...you're dead, Joey!"

Joey screamed. "Dis can't be!!!!!"

"Joey, calm down! Think about what happened last before we passed out!" Tea yelled, feeling terror creeping into her.

"Da last ding I rememba was playin' Red-Eyes, against dat....ding."

"I saw that...but then I got all dizzy. I don't even remember passing out..."

Joey smiled. "Just calm down Tea..." What the blonde didn't know was he now had fangs...

Tea nearly shrieked, but managed to suppress it to a yelp. "**JOEY!!** Y-You have **FANGS!!**"

"Whaddya talking about?" He queried, really really lost.

"Check for yourself! Your teeth look as sharp as the guys' who attacked us did!" She shrieked.

"Well maybe if dey actually lit dis place..." Joey muttered, trying to find a source of light.

As if on cue, two torches lit-up up on either side of the room. The walls were made of stone and there was a wooden door, but the only furnishings in the room were the two coffins.

"Torches? What is dis? Da stone age?" Joey asked, stating the obvious it seemed.

"Well, the walls **ARE** made of stone," Tea replied, rolling her blood red eyes.

Joey yelped. "Tea ya might wanna look at dose eyes of yours..."

Tea blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Their blood-red! Well red and blue but ya get my point!"

"But then shouldn't yours be-they're red too! Red and brown, Joey!" She cried out in horror.

"What da?! Lemme see!" Joey cried moving to a torch and saw his reflection of bichromatic eyes. "What da hell happened to us...?"

"I don't know, but why don't we try and find a way out of this place?" Tea suggested.

"Good plan...aw man, where da heck is Yuge..." Joey wondered, worried.

"I don't know that either, Joey. Maybe we'll find him as we go..." Tea mused.

"I hope so...man I miss dat little guy..." He murmured sadly.

"Well, let's get going. The sooner we do, the sooner we might find him." Tea retorted.

Joey nodded and started on the way out.

Outside of the door was a spiral staircase of stone, and as they descended it torches on the walls lit-up.

"Dis is weird..." Joey muttered, growing annoyed.

"You can say that again..." Tea muttered as they reached the bottom and entered a large, cavernous room.

"Yugi, you in here?!"

"Yugi!" Tea called as the room was lit-up with more torches. Wooden doors and stone archways lined the walls, along with a few windows.

"Good, you're both awake..."said a familiar voice.

"Yuge...is dat you?" Joey asked, with hope shining in his voice.

As the last two torches lit-up across the room, they revealed a throne made of stone. Upon it sat a person who looked exactly like Yugi, but had red eyes and deathly pale skin. He wore a similar outfit as well, but had a navy blue cape instead of a jacket. "Yugi!" Tea called happily.

Unfortunately for our friends, their in for a horrifying surprise…

To be continued…


End file.
